BABY ROSS

What were your dream(s) as a kid? What are you dream(s) today?

Kate: My dreams were very myopic. If I wanted to join a club or team, I did it but not always the next year.

Chris: I always knew I wanted a family when I was young, but most of my dreams were short term…for example, be the starting center or bat over .300.

Both of our dreams now are more long term and committal to look at how we want to live after retirement or where we want Ross to grow up.

Do you feel as if you're living your dream(s) now?

Some of them. They evolve and grow, but we have reached some of our early goals.

What has gone into these decisions to chase your dream(s) of having a child?

Were we financially stable? Did we enjoy our life traveling before we had kids? We wanted to live our lives and be prepared before we had kids.

Do you feel you would work as hard as you do without this dream and the life you have with Ross?

We work harder because we know we have additional responsibilities to keep in mind.

What was the first step you took towards achieving your dream / planning for a child?

Having the conversation to decide if we were both ready to start a family. We wanted to understand the financial and life changes that would be involved.

What financial steps did you go through to work toward this dream? How long have you been planning for this?

We asked our financial planner what the costs were to raise a child, and started to think about planning for his future. We were both in stable jobs, and knew we were fit to take on this responsibility.

Who was your biggest supporter/motivator/resource and what did they do that helped you the most?

We support each other, but have great parents as well to help keep us on course. We also have a great network of friends that we know we can go to for questions and support.

What drives you every day?

We are very self-motivated. I think the motivation to wake up and find the time to do everything we want to achieve in a day is very internally driven. No matter what day we have had, it is great to come home to Ross & Isabel (our dog).

Why do you do what you do? How much satisfaction has this (Ross) created in your life?

We do not have a choice. We were both raised to be hard workers so there never was an opportunity to feel like we shouldn’t give it our all. Now, we can share and instill our values with someone else. It is a good feeling to teach and mold someone else into a great person.

Would you have changed anything along the way to where you are today?

Not really, we try to look forward, and never look back. However, we should have been more physically active during our early career because it is a hard habit to get back into after college.

How has your plan changed over the last 3 years? How do you think it will change in the next 3 years? Where do you think your dreams will be in 3 years? More brothers/sisters for Ross?

Our plan has not changed over the past three years. However, our plan for the next three years may be different. We have plans to update this house, and then really start to look at desired areas that we want to live to raise our family.

What advice do you have for others pursuing their dreams of having a child?

On the financial side, we would recommend life insurance and a college fund for your child. We actually have quite a few friends that have approached us about this, and we have always given them the advice that these are very important steps to take.

On the personal side, get your baby on a good sleep schedule, make time for yourself, make time with each other and always ask for help.